Because of You
by Shinikami Dragon
Summary: When you love someone, you want is for them to be happy even if it isn't with you, you know they won't leave you...but if they do? That's what Misty deals with when the one she loves is graduating and leaving for good. My 1st Egoshipping, slight AU
1. Chapter 1

_Authors Note: My memory on Pokémon is quite hazy, so some stuff is going to be a bit wrong, characters will be slightly OOC, but at the end of the day, this is an AU. Lastly, I do not own anything to do with Pokémon.  
Hope you all enjoy this fanfic, it's been quite a long time since I last wrote a fanfic!_

As people rushed across the roads of the busy streets, cars flying by as red turned to green; it was just another typical day in Viridian city. On one of the many streets, a figure weaved their bike in and out of the crowd with expertise, the wind playing with golden red locks pulled back into a pony tail. Blue yet emerald like eyes sparkled in the sun, loose denim jeans fluttering due to the speed at which the figure went down the streets.

Tyres could be heard screeching, which caught the attention of a young beautiful brunette. Blue eyes turned from curious to happy, as the red head pedalled towards the other, waving enthusiastically.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop shopping in the men's department?" The young brunette said, placing a delicate hand on her hip, one eye brow raised as the other figure hopped off the bike.

"I do tend to let my mind wonder when you start posing like this." The red head said, imitating the girl's actions mockingly.

The brunette's eyes widened as she slapped the other's arm with a pout. "Quit it Misty, I'm being serious! How is it that you're the one going around dressed as a lad, yet I'm the one who guys seem to be avoiding..." The brunette sulked, crossing her arms and turned her back to the red head known as Misty.

Misty laughed and slung an arm over the other's shoulder, her cheek rested against the other's cheek, and with a grin she said, "Come on May, you know you love the envious looks you get from other girls!"  
With that comment, the girl known as May elbowed Misty, and pushed her away, then poked her in the shoulder with her index finger.

"Stop being so full of yourself Misty Waterflower, I say these things for your own good-" Misty groaned and rolled her eyes, raising her hands defensively.  
"For my own good, help me find a suitor, get my sisters off my back, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I get it May! Honestly…you're just as bad as my sisters. I moved out to get away from their ranting, not to have someone else do their job for them…" Misty sighed as she closed her eyes, shaking her head, just to open them and see May right in her face glaring at her. She began to take a couple of fearful steps backwards as May took the same amount of steps forward.

"Well if you know it, then I suggest you do it young lady. When I make a move on a guy, you know what they say? 'She's off limits...Gary or Ash will have your head for trying...' or something like that! You know how frustrating that is?" Misty sweat dropped and laughed nervously as May threw her arms up, letting out of a huff in frustration.

"Hey, hey come on May, it's not my fault people get the wrong idea...I'm...uh...sorry?" Misty said, however, luck was not on her side, as May growled and stomped her foot.

"Sorry? Sorry! That's all you got to say? You're just so...hopeless!" May cried, turning on her heel, she began to walk off, leaving Misty to stand there for a few seconds, blinking. Snapping back to reality, she grabbed her bike and chased after the other female, trying to cheer her back up, but failing miserably, but she never stopped trying to cheer up her friend.

*

As Misty casually strolled along campus grounds of the university she attended, she couldn't help but close her eyes and enjoy the warmth of the sun beaming down on her skin, her mind wandering off thinking of someone important to her. However, her day dream was short lived as an upbeat song began to blare loudly. Pulling out her cell phone, she flicked it open, the screen indicating that the caller has withheld their number from her. She raised an eyebrow and hit the answer button, placing the communication device by her ear; she spoke, "Talk to me."

"I see you..." The caller breathed out teasingly, Misty looked around her, unable to catch sight of anyone she recognised or holding onto a cell phone.

"You what-" As she turned around again to check her surroundings, a brown haired figured tackled her, putting her into a headlock and giving her a rough noogie. Laughing heartily, he continued his actions, whilst Misty struggled to get out of the hold, her hand trying to whack the other's head, but missing and instead hit the ying yang pendant that was attached to the necklace around the attacker's neck.

Eventually Misty managed to get out of the head lock and huffed, trying to fix her now messed up hair. Her attacker laughed, holding onto his stomach, being unaffected by Misty's glare. Eventually his laughs subsided into chuckles, where he was able to speak, wiping away a tear of joy, he grinned at the red head.

"Every time... you do realise that right Red?" The red head only glared harder at the male and pulled her hair band off, holding her ponytail as she roughly pulled the loose strands back and once again retying her hair.

"You messed up my hair Gary! Why you got to be such a jerk some times?" Misty growled as she went to straighten out her yellow vest and brush off imaginary dust.

"I was just playing with you...jeez, you're such a woman sometimes you know that?" The male known as Gary argued, shrugging nonchalantly. Misty's eyebrow twitched as she punched him in the arm, pouting. "I am a woman!"

This made Gary smirk and flick her forehead, "Could've fooled me." He said in a sarcastic tone, only to get another punch from the red head, he rubbed his arm, even though it did not hurt him, but he liked being dramatic.

"Are you trying to test my patience today?" Misty said, turning on her heel in a similar manner May did to her earlier that day, and began to walk off. Gary did a little jog to catch up to the other girl, putting his arm around her shoulders easily due to their height difference. Misty chose to ignore the other male, but made no efforts in releasing herself from his hold, just keeping her eyes averted away from his cheeky smile.

"Now, now, why would I want to do that to my number one girl eh? And besides, I let you hit me, it really hurt!" Gary said, feigning pain as he said the last part, Misty only rolled her eyes, and it was then she turned her attention back to the cocky male, scrunching her nose, she elbowed him in the ribs, making him gasp as he was caught off guard and then walked ahead of him. However, Gary was quick to catch his breath back and caught up to the girl easily.

"Serves you right." She muttered, just loud enough for Gary's ears to pick up the comment. "Neh neh neh" Gary mocked childishly in a squeaky voice, this at least caught Misty's attention where he quickly let on a bright smile.

"So anyway, the guys and I were thinking of a little poke-kick-about after lectures if you're up for it?" He said, as they both continued walking, this time side by side, earlier playful events forgotten.

"Gary, you know my Pokémon aren't that strong when it comes to poke-kick-about. Get us playing volleyball or anything to do with the water, and we'll put up a good fight. Anything but poke-kick-about..." Misty groaned as her hands instinctively went to the pokeballs attached to her belt, brushing them gently. Gary noticed her actions and chuckled, knowing how his friend gets when her Pokémon try to play poke-kick-about, especially with his friends, considering Misty loves her water Pokémon, whereas Gary and his friends have a lot of Pokémon that are more suited to the ground.

"Aww come on Misty, it's just for laughs, it's not a real match or anything. Besides...Ashy-boy will be there." Gary winked, nudging the red head playfully, making Misty's eyes widen and her cheeks to flush slightly. Shoving the other playfully, she groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you? I do not like Ash in that way! Where on earth did you get that idea to begin with anyway?"

"Now come on Red, I see the way you look at my boy. I'll set you up if you want as long as you fix up the way you look of course." Gary said, grinning cheekily as he picked at her yellow vest, looking her up and down, now with a look of distaste.

"I don't see anything wrong with what I'm wearing." Misty huffed, crossing her arms, but she began to feel conscientious about the way she looked under Gary's judgemental stare.

"You look like a lad, the least you could do is lay off the briefs." Gary said as he circled the girl, Misty placed both hands on her hip, tilting her head to one side, then turned her head to one side, her nose in the air. "Hn, well, I have you know I'm quite happy with what I wear, and you should appreciate the briefs I wear, it is Calvin Klein after all, I do believe you, yourself is a Calvin Klein fan."

"Yes but I'm also a fan of Agent Provocateur, but you won't see me prancing around in a silk pink bra with black lace now would you?" Gary said, making Misty giggle at the mental image now forming in her head.

"You know I do believe May has lingerie from that store." Misty grinned; Gary smirked, running a hand through his spiky brown hair. "Our dear May has good taste indeed. And speaking of our beloved chick how is her dating scene these days?"

"No good thanks to you, and I'm the one getting the blame for the rumour that 'you' spread!" Misty said, pointing accusingly at the male, who grabbed the hand pointing at him, lowering it, and using his other hand tapping it in a comforting manner.

"Why Miss. Misty Waterflower, I am extremely hurt by your harsh accusations. Why, to think that I would ever do such a thing to…" Gary's grip tightened as he broke into another round of laughter, bending forward as he laughed, Misty shook her head with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, I can't even finish that seriously... but I can't believe she hasn't figured it out it's me who started that rumour. I mean I thought it was fairly obvious." Gary sighed, letting go of Misty's hand and wiped an imaginary tear away. Misty huffed and crossed her arms, clearly not amused.

"Clearly not…otherwise I wouldn't be the one on the receiving end of her whinging!" Misty unconsciously straightened her clothes. "And she goes blaming my dress sense…" she muttered under her breath, causing Gary to raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow as she crossed her arms, a pout on her face now.

Gary started to circle Misty, making her feel self conscious as her crossed arms tightened; her blue emerald eyes followed the handsome brunette's movements. "To be honest Red and I say this with as much love as I can possibly muster…" Gary started, finally stopping in front of Misty, looking her up and down, "you'll probably end up with a chick instead of a dude at this rate, straight guys don't want people to think they're homosexuals in the making…" Gary said, trying to hold a serious face.

"Not everyone's a perv like you Oak… If a guy can't like me for who I am then they're not worth my time. If a guy purely wants to get with me for sex, then he can go to hell." Misty said as she jabbed her index finger in the male's shoulder making him take a couple of steps back. Turning away from him, she raised her head high, nose in the air, eyes closed with a final suck in of air, puffing out her chest in a superior manner.

Gary took a few steps towards Misty placing his arm over her shoulder, looking directly into her face with a smirk, "Was that your attempt at insulting me?" Misty turned her head away from Gary but made no attempts to pull out of his arms. Gary could only chuckle at her actions. "…Because you pretty much suck at it, but I was wrong…" This caught Misty's attention as she opened her eyes, turning to Gary with wide eyes as she assumed he was going to apologise for his comments.

Gary let go of Misty, standing directly in front of her, he looked down into her eyes seriously, causing Misty's breath to hitch in her throat. Gary leant close to her face, and Misty felt her cheeks getting hot with every inch closer until she could feel his breath on her face.

'He smells so fresh…like mint…and aftershave…' Was what ran through the female's mind as she stared directly into those enchanting eyes.

"It's not your dress sense that's gonna scare away the guys…its how you resemble an old hag that's gonna keep them far, far away from ya." Gary said, and as he said the words "far, far away" was when he began to run off, leaving the girl stunned at first, which changed instantly into anger as she fumed and chased after the other, shaking her balled fists at him screaming at the top of her lungs, "Gary Oak! You get back here right now and I'll show you how it feels to know your future has no descendants!"

**TBC**

_Sandra: That's chapter one…it's all planned out, just got to write it up really…hope you all liked that, I know it's very OOC, but it will turn out ok in the end! Please be patient!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sandra: Here we go with chapter two_

"Alright class, I'll see you next week!" Said the short haired professor as he gathered his masses of papers together, muttering something under his breath about research before walking out the door. All the students sighed, some getting up and quickly packing away their belongings, others turning in their seats talking to their fellow classmates.

As Misty put away her Horsy folder, reaching for her matching pencil case, she paused in her action as a cheerful girl bounced over, her pigtails bouncing up and down in the process; she dropped her lilac folder on the desk.

"Hey Misty!" The girl grinned, leaning against the desk, as she placed both her hands neatly on her thighs. Misty looked at the girl and smiled politely, continuing to pack her bag once again; the girl ignored Misty's silence and continued.

"So I was just wondering, you know, if you could do me a favour?" Misty just glanced at the other, and then turning back to her backpack, she rearranged the items within so that she could close it. "You know, seeing as we're both like the youngest out of our sisters, and we known each other since like forever cause our sisters are friends…"

Misty sighed, turning to the girl who was now twirling one of her pigtails in her hands, putting on a fake bright smile; she cut the girl off, "Hey Sakura… Is there any reason you're here talking to me instead of being at cheerleader practice?"

The girl, known as Sakura, stopped twirling her hair, and her smile got bigger, standing directly in front of Misty, she clasped the redhead's hand, placing a little piece of paper in between. "I know that you and Gary Oak are like really good friends, and him being our senior, we never have the same classes. I mean I took the best care of my Espeon because I thought maybe we could have something in common to talk about because he has an Umbreon, but I never seem to be able to get close to him, so could you please…" Sakura tightened her grip on other's hand, "Can you give him this note for me? I mean it's not hard, this is a minor favour compared to the ones I used to ask! Please Misty?" The girl put on her puppy dog eyes that would make any passing male melt and surrender all control.

Misty pulled her hands out of the other's clasp and smiled, "I'll do my best…" Only to cringe as the girl squealed happily, jumping up and down, turning on her heel, she grabbed her folders and ran towards the classroom door. "Thanks so much Misty! I owe you one!" With that the bubbly girl left the room, leaving Misty and a couple other students behind in the room.

Misty sighed as she put the backpack on her shoulder, adjusting the strap to make the weight as comfortable as possible. As she neared the door, a crunch could be heard as she crushed the note in her hand and threw it into the bin perfectly without looking.

"Yeah…like the million other times you owe me... what a twat…"

*

As the clouds floated slowly across the bright blue sky, the sun blaring down warmly onto the lush green grass, laughter, cheers and jeers were being called as a bunch of creatures in all shapes and sizes chased around the red and white ball. The masters called to their Pokémon's, using different attacks in order to attain the ball and try to score a goal. From "hydro pumps" to "dig" and even "agility" could be heard, as the creatures obeyed their master and tried their best to win. Amongst the group of Pokémon trainers was Gary as he called out to his Umbreon who swiftly attained the ball and was heading towards the goal, with a big grin, he watched his Pokémon use confusion on the goal keeper and sent the ball right past it.

"Who the man? Who's the man?" Gary smirked as his team mates complimented him on his Pokémon's skills.  
"So big headed as of usual." Came a voice from behind, Gary turned around and smirked, walking up to the other male.  
"Well it's about time you made it here Ashy-boy, was starting to think you chickened out on me or something." Gary joked as he neared the other. Ash smiled at his long time friend and shook his head, "Please…like I would be scared because of you. Pikachu and I will totally kick you and Umbreon's ass!" and as if on cue, Pikachu popped his head up over Ash's shoulder, making a cute sound in agreement with his master.

"Uh huh…whatever you say Ashy-boy…" Gary shrugged uncaringly, his eyes suddenly following a group of girls who giggled happily as Gary smiled charmingly at them, some of the girls waved back shyly before hurrying off and chatting animatedly amongst themselves.  
"I got to hand it to ya Gary, with your smug-ass attitude and reputation; it's kind of shocking how the girls all seem to kiss the ground you walk on." Ash said, watching the group of girls walk away happily, shaking his head.  
"What's the matter Ashy-boy? Jealous?" Gary smirked, turning his attention back to his friend; he threw his arm around the other's shoulders as they began to walk over to the other trainers.  
"Hardly, I just don't understand why girls would go for a guy like you when they know that all they will be is just a one night stand or a one week fling or whatever…"  
"Well you know the saying…" Gary grinned, Ash looked back at his friend and childhood rival, rolling his eyes, "…work hard, play hard, and live life with no regrets." They said in unison, both laughing when they finished.  
"You know, you say that, but I see you're the one still holding onto the other half of that necklace of yours." Ash said, motioning his head towards Gary's chest where the Ying Yang pendant can be seen clearly dangling off the chain around the brunette's neck.  
"I don't want to live my life regretting things…this necklace means a lot to me… like I'm gonna give it to any old girl that comes my way…" Gary said, his free hand taking the pendant and bringing it to his lips where he kissed it gently, then letting it go to land softly against his chest once more.  
"Whilst I know it's important to you, with that oh-so-charming bachelor of the century attitude, you're just like Misty you know that, such a woman sometimes…"  
Gary got Ash into a headlock and began to noogie him through his cap, "Speaking of our dear Waterflower, whilst all these girls may bow down to my feet, you need not worry because Red is all yours Ashy-boy! She'll be here soon lover boy."

Ash pushed away from Gary with a blush across his face, Pikachu and Umbreon already running ahead of their masters to their other Pokémon friends.  
"You promised you won't say anything!" Ash replied, straightening his cap and trying to soften out any imaginary creases.  
"I haven't said anything dude, so relax… you call me a woman, if that's the case, you must be one big fruit, because I'm definitely manlier than you." Gary grinned, running over to join his Pokémon, Ash raised his eyebrow and jogged over, retaliating with a childish "no you're not!" only causing Gary to burst into laughter.

Misty rode her bike towards the field where she saw all the Pokémon and their trainers having a fun time in the warm weather, getting off her bike, she walked on the lush green and pushed her bike along, smiling when Gary looked up and waved at her, who turned to Ash and both jogged over to her.

"About time you made it here Red. Ow!" Gary whined as Misty whacked his around the head.  
"Stop calling me that Oak!" Misty growled, ready to hit him again if he were to retaliate.  
"You know I may be smart, but if you keep hitting me like that, I could end up at you're level or something…" Gary quickly dodged the other attack by backing away, making Misty more annoyed as she attempted to attack him again.  
"Alright, come on guys, this is a civilised place, no more fighting." Ash interrupted by standing in between the two, hands held up in a calming manner.  
"Tell that to Mr. Egoistic over here, he's always asking for it." Misty said, peering past Ash and sticking her tongue out at Gary, who mimicked her actions back.  
"Real grown up Gary…"Ash said, rolling his eyes, Gary looked at the other male in mock-shock.  
"How could you Ash, you should be siding with me!"  
"Thank you Ash, at least one of you has some common sense." Misty said smiling sweetly at the raven haired male; Ash could only blush at the comment and scratch the back of his head.  
"Uh huh, I get it, fine, gang up on poor defenceless me, bloody love bird couples…" This earned Gary a double whack around the head by the other two who had a scarlet taint dusting their cheeks.

"Are you honestly trying to test my patience and see how far you can go before I cut all ties with you?" Misty said as she turned her back on the two males, arms crossed.  
Rubbing the back of his head with a scowl on his face from the pain, he walked over to Misty and hugged her around the shoulder, resting his head against his arms so that his face was only a few centimetres away from the girls face.  
"You know you love me too much to cut me out of your life, and my God Red, that one really hurt!" Gary said, Misty opened one eye to look at Gary and closed it again, ignoring the closeness of their bodies.  
"Heh, you wish! My life would be a hell lot easier if you weren't around!" Misty said, this just made Gary chuckle.  
"Don't regret it when one day I do leave you for good! Then who you gonna run to when a bunch of boys try to beat you up eh? Oof…" Gary let go of Misty and hugged his rib area as Misty elbowed him hard due to his remark.  
"It happened the one time! It's not my fault that git's girlfriend flung herself into my arms, I was just comforting her, how was I supposed to know she would target me to be her rebound?" Misty defended herself, Ash could only watch in amusement at the two's behaviour, as their love-hate friendship wasn't nothing new to him.  
"Well, you're lucky I'm the nice guy that I am and just so happen to have passed by. Next time you go hugging and whispering soothing words to heartbroken girls, make sure they're absolutely straight and they're ex-boyfriends aren't around ok?" Gary retorted, this in affect caused Misty's temper to rise up once again as she went to attack the brunette once more, this was Ash's cue to step in and intervene, grabbing Misty's raised hand he lowered it and slung his arm around his shoulder, and at the same time, put his arm around Gary's shoulder, leading them both to the other trainers and Pokémon who were still playing poke-kick-about.

"That's enough bickering from the two of you, we came here to have a kick about, not to have the two of you fight like a married couple!" Ash laughed, Gary straightened up and fixed his hair.  
"So now you're trying to copy Brock or something? Since when have you ever been the peacemaker aiy?" Gary said, Ash shrugged his shoulders, and turned to Misty as she piped up with, "ignore him Ash, some people just need to learn to grow up to understand things like this."  
"Yeah, coming from you Red? I don't think so." Gary smirked.

"You wanna say that again Oak? I'll have Poliwhirl use hydro pump on you and send you to the next region!" Misty argued, Ash sighed as the two once again began to bicker, shaking his head, as Pikachu and Umbreon sat and watched the egoistic pair bicker away.

**TBC**

_Sandra: That's chapter two ladies and gents. Chapter 3 will be up really shortly too!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sandra: chapter three, remember, I do not own anything to do with Pokémon, I just own this storyline…_

As a few cheerleaders rounded off the routine with flips, twists and acrobatics, one particular cheerleader walked off to the side, grabbing her bottle of water, she took big yet polite gulps and screwed the lid back on.

"Hey May! That was a great run today right?" the voice of the bubbly brunette cheerleader Sakura piped up, catching the attention of May, who switched her bottle between her hands, looking at her fellow cheerleader with a small smile.  
"You got that right! This year's championship is totally ours!" May replied, throwing her bottle in the air as if it were a baton and catching it gracefully.  
As Sakura knelt down and picked up her belongings, she twirled to face May, a sheepish smile on her face, she asked, "Do you think Gary and his friends will be watching?"  
This made May roll her eyes at the obvious, knowing full well that the egoistic Oak has not missed one cheerleading event that's happened so far. "Do you really need to ask?" Was her only answer, before she too knelt down and picked up her belongings.

As the two walked side by side towards the exit, May started bouncing on the balls of her feet, a big grin on her face, her voice full of excitement she told May about the event that happened between her and Misty, "You know I got Misty to ask out Gary for me!" This in turn caught May's interest, as she looked at Sakura in disbelief.  
"You know I figured, as I never really get the chance to get close to Gary and when I do get the chance, I get so nervous! I mean what better way than to ask one of his closest friends to do it for me right? The best part is, I've known Misty like forever, she'd totally do this for me! It's brilliant!" Sakura had stars in her eyes as she walked ahead of May, whose face was still one of surprise.  
"Gotta dash, I'll catch you later, ok May?" With that, the girl disappeared through the doors, which was then that May snapped out of her stupor and shook her head and sympathetic smile on her face as she knew exactly what her friend thought of the bubbly cheerleader and the outcome of this situation is likely to turn out different to how Sakura imagined it would.

*

In the busy shopping mall of Viridian City, people rushing left and right, cafes full of customers happily enjoying their meal, stores full of lively sales assistants serving customers, it was a very typical day. Amongst the crowd of people, in the far end against the walls, a petite girl could be seen blushing wildly, a bashful smile on her face as she stared up into the eyes of the male who had her trapped against the cream white paint covered wall.

"So… I was thinking we catch a movie, go for drinks and see where the night takes us…" The deep husky voice said, his alluringly dark brown eyes travelled from the girl's eyes to the girl's plush lips, down to her chest where he could see the hem of her bra peeking through her vest, and then back up to her eyes once more, his eyes full of promised lust.  
"That…that sounds g-great Gary…" The girl breathed out, looking down as her blush deepened, she looked back up at Gary through her lashes, only for her eyes to widen, her heart beat speeding up as Gary raised her face slowly by her chin, and laid a short gentle kiss that had much more meaning behind it. As he pulled away from her, he smiled charmingly at her, turning away from her, he looked over his shoulder and winked at her, "I'll see you outside the screening at 7 then." And with that, he walked away, leaving the girl where she stood planted, still trying to process what just happened. At the same time, Gary pulled his cell phone out, dialling a number, he held the phone against his ear, it rang twice before a female on the other line answered.  
"Hey listen, I'm not going to make it to dinner tonight… I think we need to have a talk…" with that Gary began the heartbreak process of yet another female who fell madly in love with him.

In another part of the mall, a reluctant Misty who was carrying a few bags rolled her eyes, as she followed May into another store, sighing as May scanned through the items in full concentration.  
"You know…when you said let's hang out, I didn't anticipate you dragging me out to be your bellboy and carrying all your bags for you…" Misty said sarcastically, this caught May's attention who furrowed her eyebrows, walking over to her redheaded friend, she poked the girl in the shoulder, and received a questioning scowl in response.  
"I'm not just shopping for me! You don't own a piece of feminine clothing, the least you could do is look about and tell me what you like so I can help you pick something out!" May said, placing her hands on her hips, Misty in turn rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Besides, it's about time you dressed the way God intended for you to dress." May finished with as she strolled back over to the clothes rack.  
"Don't you get all religious on me girl. I'm happy with the way I look." Misty said, walking over to her friend who wandered off to look at another rail of clothing. "Why should I dress up in something that shows too much flesh? Or something that won't keep me warm when I'm out? Or something that hardly covers up my ass? I may as well go out onto the streets in my underwear…" Misty argued, picking at the dress that May was holding in her hands, only to have the other girl swat at her hand and stick her tongue out at her.  
"I think this dress is rather cute! And besides, you have a cute ass; I don't see why you don't show it off?" May said defensively, holding the dress out in front of her and admiring it happily as if it were a magnificent piece of art, before walking past Misty and smacking her behind cheekily. Misty swerved around and crossed her arms the best she could with the bags in her hands and pouted.  
"You got to dress with respect for yourself May, you complain about not pulling guys, but seriously, you dressing that way isn't going to get you the right kind of guys I tell ya now." Misty nagged, clearly disagreeing with her friend's choice in dress attire, but May chose to ignore the end half of Misty's comment and instead, strolled up towards the queue to pay.  
"Well, I beg to differ, and I do too have respect for myself." Was the brunette's only answer before she turned her nose up high, showing that the discussion was over. Misty sighed, breathing under her breath "Woman…" and waited as her friend paid for the clothing item she picked out. Once that was accomplished, May walked over to the redhead and shoved the bag into her arms, with a cheeky grin, she dragged the other girl out whilst saying, "whatever Miss-o-macho, let's go, we haven't got long till this place shuts and still so many places to cover."  
"Times like this you don't care that I act like a boy now do ya…" Misty said, but was ignored by her friend who happily linked arms with her and semi-skipped along. Misty shook her head, despite the differences between herself and May; she loved the girl as if she were her sister. Despite her sisters were annoying, and May did have a tendency to nag just like them, the girl was the only person who accepted her for who she was even if she does complain about it. Glancing at her friend who looked in fascination at the items on display in the shop windows, no matter what expression was on the brunette's face, she was always very pretty and attractive, and as one of the stars on the cheerleading squad, there were a lot of guys who would die to have May notice them. Misty turned her eyes towards the ceiling of the mall, occasionally answering and nodding to whatever May would say, she continued with her train of thoughts. There were times when she kind of wished to be like May, despite her tomboy exterior and independent attitude, she sometimes wished she could be in May's shoes, where no matter what she did people would still think she was pretty and every bit feminine, but at the same time respect her and know that she's independent. However, she would take that little wish down to her grave with her, and never admit it to another soul on earth, she was too proud to admit something like that.

"So I heard your oh-so-best-buddy-since-childhood Sakura got you to ask out Gary for her, how did that go exactly?" May asked, a little knowing smirk on her face, this caught Misty's attention as she shrugged, "Heh, like I would introduce Gary to her… she must be dreaming, if she really was that good, knowing Gary that man-whore would have already gotten her name, phone number and whatever by now anyway…" Misty replied, which made May laugh.  
"No one is good enough for Gary are they? You know even though you insult him and stuff, you always get kind of defensive when it comes to the oh-so-famous Mr. Oak don't you. It's strange considering you guys didn't start off as friends, and now you're so protective of him."  
Misty's eyes widened as she blushed a little, before pushing it down and shook her head, looking away from the giggling girl on her arm.  
"Yeah right, as if I'd be protective of the likes of him!"  
"Protective of the likes of who?" both girls turned around to the voice behind them, seeing Gary approach them with a charming smile on his face.  
"None of your business." Misty said quickly, cutting off any chance of May exposing their conversation to the egoistic male now by their side. May could only giggle a little at Misty's antics before shaking her head, she turned to Gary and smiled, "What a coincidence to bump into you here Gary."  
"Just wandering about, out shopping I see ladies?" He replied noticing the number of shopping bags in Misty's hands.  
May nodded and sighed, "Well, we're attempting to, but Miss. Tomboy here refuses to buy anything no matter what store we go in." Misty glared at her friend's dramatic voice and behaviour, and scrunched up her nose.  
"That's because you keep dragging me into stores that I have no interest in shopping at." Misty said, lifting up the shopping bags and shaking them to add an emphasis to what she types of stores she was implying.  
"Now come on Red, it would be interesting to see you dressed like a normal girl for once." Gary smirked, only to gain a glare from his female companion, though he was unaffected by the girl's efforts and laughed at her behaviour.  
"There is no way I'm gonna be caught dressing like one of those…" Misty started her rant as she wandered over to a store display window, pointing at the mannequin dressed in sequinned party clothing, a stylish wig and glittering stiletto heels, "…wearing some leg endangering heels with my hair all poofed and groomed or whatever…nuh-uh… no way!" She finished her rant with a final huff and crossed her arms, stamping her foot down as she stared down her two friends, she made a point and she was not going to waver.

However, luck was not on Misty's side as she found herself in the female changing rooms, glaring at Gary Oak who was sitting on the waiting seats smugly, arms crossed comfortably across his chest as he leant back in a superior way. Her glare then shifted to May who now walked over to her changing room cubical with a pile of clothes, before shoving it into Misty's arms and shutting the curtain behind the two of them, shielding Gary's view of the two girls, but not shielding his ears as Misty's voice could be heard clearly saying, "I. Hate. You. Guys." Which Gary just chuckled at knowing how the tomboy tried to resist with all her might at her current situation, but he was Gary Oak, he always had his way, not to mention the ever so persuasive cheerleader was on his side, there was no way that Misty Waterflower could have won this match.

"I am NOT wearing that!" Misty cried, followed by a string of curses from both girls behind the curtains, Gary checked his watch and looked at his surroundings, surprised that they were the only people in the changing room despite the number of people roaming the big shopping mall.  
"It's either this or that…" May's voice negotiated.  
"What are you doing to me woman?!" Misty complained, making Gary laugh, imagining the crazy scenario that could possibly be happening in the small cubical that the two girls were probably at war in.  
After a loud thump, followed by a few curses, May finally stepped out behind the still drawn curtains, smiling happily as she approached Gary's side; she turned back to the cubical and called out to Misty.  
"Come out Mist!"  
"You expect me to come out dressed like this? You are highly mistaken May Maple!" Was Misty's reply from behind the curtains. A vain could be seen throbbing on May's forehead as she tried to keep the twitching smile on her face, Gary felt the evil aura next to him and gulped.  
"If you do not come out, then I will come in there and drag you out myself!" Gary chose this as his cue to step in and prevent any possibly bloodshed, calling at Misty in a cool manner, "Stop being a wuss and get out here Red, how bad can it possibly look anyway!" with that comment, he rest his elbow on top of his knee, placing his chin in his hand as he raised his eyebrow, ready to tease his friend, knowing she would definitely show her face after being taunted in such a way.

Indeed Gary was correct as the curtains could be heard roughly being pulled open, followed by a "who are you calling a wuss you egoistic narcissist man whore!"  
Gary had a million different lines prepared in his head waiting to come out once Misty showed herself, but none of the remarks he had prepared matched what his eyes was seeing as the redhead stood in front of him dressed in a blue strapless dress, hugging her perfectly at every curve that he never knew the girl had, topped off with a pair of blue strappy heels which was probably why there was a thump when she was getting changed as she seemed pretty unstable wearing the feminine footwear.

"I told you that you'd look great in a dress…and look at your legs, who knew you were hiding those pair of kicks underneath those baggy jeans of yours." May said gleefully, forgetting her anger from moments ago as she bounced over to her friend, circling her like a doctor examining a patient, she hummed before pulling off Misty's hair band in one swift motion, causing the golden red locks to flow softly past her shoulders, giving her the ultimate feminine look.  
"Was your hair always this long?" May asked in surprise at the length of her friend's hair, but Misty ignored her as she felt extremely vulnerable and uncomfortable under Gary's stare.  
Coughing, she crossed her arms in hopes to somewhat cover herself up, she mustered up a glare and directed it at Gary, "I swear to God Gary, if you don't stop eying me up, I will kick you where it hurts the most." She growled out, which did indeed snap Gary out of his trance, and also brought back the usual Oak, who smirked at the girl as he leaned back in his seat.  
"Not bad Red, you look like a passable female…" He said, but then his phone began to ring and he stood up, leaving the changing room and store to answer the call.  
Misty sighed and turned back to May, looking at the girl with a bored expression, "Can I get changed now?"

As the two girls exited the store, Gary ended his conversation and pocketed his phone, looking Misty once over and shook his head, still unbelieving that the girl he saw in the changing rooms was his tomboy friend standing right before his eyes in baggy male attire.  
"How is it that we go in there apparently looking for something for me... just to come out with something for you instead?" Misty asked, shaking the new addition to her hands of shopping bags.  
"Well you weren't going to buy it, and how could I let such a thing go to waste?" Was May's answer as they approached Gary who stood patiently waiting for the bickering girls.  
"Can I ask you where you get all your money from? It's like you pull it out of thin air!" Misty said, all the while acting as if she was plucking imaginary money from the sky, May was obviously not amused by Misty's mock and turned her head away from the girl.  
"Finally finished shopping then?" Gary asked as they stopped in front of him, Misty cheered and looked to the sky mouthing 'thank you' as if she was finally free.  
"We haven't FINISHED shopping, it's just that Misty took so long to get changed, that now the shops are closing!" May said, but Misty didn't care that May put the blame on her, she was happy that it was over.  
"Aright, alright, as much as I love a good cat fight once in a while, how about we head to the nearest café for something to drink? My treat ok?" Gary said, placing his arms around both girls' shoulders and led them off.  
"Can you actually believe she thinks we're not done? She practically owns half the malls items you know that?"

**TBC**

_Sandra: Alright, that's chapter three, I hope you all like it._


	4. Chapter 4

_Sandra: Let's keep going… _

_Also would like to say thank you to: Arysd for the first two comments on chap 1 and 2, my first reviewer in a long time ^^_

_Also like to say thanks to: sanora19 for the encouragement! You guys are keeping me going so far, I'm glad people like what I have done so far ^^_

_Anyway, lets continue..._

From the light of the moon that seeped through the blinds, two silhouettes could be seen kissing intimately on the bed, a single sheet thrown over their lower halves. The sweat could be seen glistening off the back of the male who was towering above the petite female underneath, his brown spikes slightly flatter and damp at the ends and fell over his dark eyes that ran over the naked body underneath him.

"I got to go…" Gary said as he laid a gentle peck on the girls lips, but the female laces her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, unwilling to let the attractive brunette leave.  
"You can't stay the night?" She asked pleadingly as she stared up at him through her thick lashes, a small pout on her lips, but Gary shook his head and kissed her forehead, before swinging his legs off the edge of the bed, sitting up and looking around for his clothes which were messily discarded during the heat of the moment.  
"I've got stuff to do." Was all he replied as he stretched his arms up in the air before standing up to retrieve his clothes, meanwhile the girl sat up and pulled the sheet towards her chest, her eyes following the male around the room as he began to dress, starting with his socks, boxers and trousers.  
"Can't it wait another time?" She asked, leaning over the other side of the bed and picking up his shirt, holding it close to her as she raked her eyes over his perfectly toned chest, which she not so long ago ran her hands over, feeling every muscle under that immaculately smooth body.  
Gary turned to her and grabbed his shirt from her hands, buttoning it up; he shook his head, causing the girl in the bed to growl in frustration, her facial expression clearly showing her unhappiness at the situation. Gary looked at her unimpressed before pulling her by the back of her head into a rough kiss. Pulling away he turned away and walked towards the door, his eyes no longer shown any signs of interest, of lust or any emotions that he had expressed moments ago.  
"I'll call you." Was all he said as he opened the door and exited. The girl sat there in shock, before growling in anger, picking up the nearest hard object and throwing it at the door angrily.

*

As Misty folded the freshly cleaned duvet sheet in her hands, she placed it onto her bed with the other piles of folded clothes that came out of the wash and dryer not long ago. Ready to fold the next piece of item from the pile, her task was interrupted by a knock on her door as she put down what she was holding and answered the door.

When she opened the door, her expression went from curious to unimpressed as she walked back to her pile of laundry, leaving the door wide open for her visitor to enter.  
"You're a little later than usual… I thought you weren't coming." She said, resuming what she was doing moments ago. Gary walked through the door and shut it behind him, settling himself into the desk chair comfortably as if he were at home.  
"I had some business to attend to." He replied looking around the room that he's been to many times, yet it was out of habit that he surveys his surroundings.  
"Uh huh…so…who was she?" Misty asked, her back facing Gary as she placed the folded item on top of the pile, and going for the last few items left for her to fold.  
"Just some girl I met at the mall." Came Gary's short reply as he scanned his nails for anything wrong.  
"Did you sleep with her?" Misty asked, suddenly clenching the t-shirt in her hands a little tighter, then folding it a little harsher than normal, but it went unnoticed by Gary, who replied with a cocky smirk as he continued to survey his nails, "Can't expect anything less from me." Finally he looked up at the redhead and frowned, noticing her strange behaviour. "You ok Misty?"  
Misty picked up the pile of laundry roughly and headed towards her already open wardrobe, shoving the clothes in harshly, she slammed the little doors shut, her back towards Gary whilst muttering, "Of course I'm ok, why would anything be wrong?"

Gary walked over to the girl who stood still by the wardrobe, her hands still on the handles. He placed a hand on her shoulder, only to have it shrugged off harshly, which didn't go well in Gary's books as he furrowed his eyebrows, and grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. "What's the matter Red? Are you jealous?" He said in a jokey manner, only to have Misty glare directly at his face, she poked him hard in the chest, making him take a step back as she claimed, "Who do you think you are? Why would I be jealous? Who do I have to be jealous of?" and with that she shoved past him and headed towards her bed which she dropped on very unladylike, resting her weight on her arms which she placed behind her, her palms flat on the mattress, and stared at the wall opposite of Gary. The brunette could only chuckle at the girl's behaviour and walked over, sitting next to her, making the girl shuffle away from him, just for him to scuttle closer, and this continued until Misty was against the wall, unable to shuffle away anymore.  
Gary put his arm around the girls shoulder to stop her from getting up and moving away.  
"Would you relax Red, you know you're my number one girl right?" He said, smiling at her warmly, Misty glanced over to Gary and blushed, turning her head away from him, no longer angry.  
"Shut up stupid, how can you even say embarrassing things like that?" She said, her body now relaxed, Gary laughed at her comment, "It comes naturally to me, besides, you chicks dig this kinda stuff."  
Misty playfully slapped him on the thigh and scrunched her nose at his comment before breaking out into a grin.  
"Do I see a smile coming through?" Gary teased, his free hand poking her cheek, which Misty swatted away, trying her best to keep a straight face, but was failing miserably, "Shut it you."  
Gary grinned at his accomplishment and nodded, mock bowing for forgiveness; he then stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "Glad you're finally smiling…now…" He grinned cheekily at the red head, lowering his arms, he finished off his sentence, "…where's my leftover dinner?"  
Misty shook her head and smiled, "Lasagne's in the oven." She said, watching Gary's grin grow wider.  
"I love you" he said as he walked towards the attached kitchen to get his food.

Misty watched the guy walk around her kitchen, going through her cupboards and taking out dishes and cutlery, helping himself to the lasagne that was indeed in the oven, still hot. She smiled as he attempted to bring the dish out without using the mittens and burning himself.

It was strange how originally they started out as enemies, attending the same junior high and high school; Misty couldn't stand boys who were as full of themselves and snobbish as Gary. The two would be at each other's neck constantly, and as Misty became good friends with Ash, with Gary and Ash's rivalry since birth, the brunette took this opportunity to tease the pair and make comments about how they were a couple, and how she should consider herself lucky that at least one guy in this world can deal with her.

Misty felt sorry for Ash; he was a great friend and would always stick up for his friends, her included. Gary just took Ash's kindness and twisted it into some kind of gossip scandal, and because of that, throughout high school, girls wouldn't approach Ash because they thought he was taken, and some of the guys would tease him and question his sexuality for 'dating a tomboy'.  
Once the two boys reached high school, it seems that they somehow set aside their rivalry and were the best of friends, although some of their rival like behaviour would appear from time to time, but it was all friendly.

How Misty managed to become good friends with Gary was still something fresh in her mind, as she remembers the day quite clearly. How her first day in high school was pretty much successful, she was making her way home when she crossed the fields and saw another student sitting on the bench crying. Misty was generally a caring person, so naturally she went over to see what the problem was; sitting next to the girl and asking her if she was ok. It seems that the girl has just broken up with her boyfriend, and whilst Misty wanted to help, she didn't have much experience in the romance department, so all she could do was comfort the girl the best she could.

"You know what, whoever that guy was is a real idiot, I mean you're really pretty, even I would date you." Misty said to try and cheer the girl up; this caught the girl's attention as she looked at Misty with wide eyes. Misty gulped, maybe she said something wrong, she put her hands up in front of her apologetically, ready to explain what she really meant, but then before she could say anything, the girl threw herself into Misty's arms.

Misty was clearly shocked, and all she could do was pat the girl on the back awkwardly. The girl pulled back, her arms still around Misty as she looked into the emerald blue eyes with hope, "You really would date me?" The girl asked, Misty blinked, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, unsure how to answer.

That was when the girl's supposedly ex-boyfriend appeared around the corner with his friends, and seeing the scene before him, he was not happy. Storming over, he pulled his girlfriend off of Misty.  
"Get your hands off me! You may not want me, but I found someone who does!" The girl cried, Misty looked in wonder at what was happening, she didn't even know the girls name and now said girl was claiming that they were together?  
"Who do you think you are punk? Do you honestly think a puny little runt like you can match up to me?" Misty was hoisted into the air by her shirt, at that moment she kind of wished that she obeyed school rules and wore the girl's school uniform instead of being slightly rebellious by wearing the boy's uniform instead.

As she gasped for air from the beatings, she felt herself get raised to the air once more, staring at the guy through the eye that wasn't bruised, she could still see perfect anger etched on the other's face.  
"I hope you learn not to lay your hands on another man's property." The guy sneered, this got Misty's blood boiling, she was angry at the fact that these guys were beating her up for no apparent reason, but what she hated the most was guys who think they're God's gift to earth and treat woman like they're some sort of object.

"Its people like you that make this world such an ugly place, you're not even much of a man as you have 4 vs. 1. Quite frankly you don't deserve someone like her, let alone anyone at all." Misty managed to say before spitting in the guy's face, the guy growled and threw Misty to the floor ready to attack her.

"What do you think you're doing?" The guy stopped in his actions, turning around to see Gary behind them. The other three guys stopped in their actions and stood to the side as Gary walked towards them.  
"Gary, don't get in my way, this little shit here tried to take what's mine and then he has the bloody nerve to smack talk me." The guy growled; fists clenched tightly.

Gary looked at the angry guy, to the three guys standing to the side, to the girl cowering away, and then down to the floor, where his eyes widened, realising who it was beaten and battered on the floor. Impatiently the guy growled and turned back towards Misty, ready to kick him, Misty closed her eyes tightly, prepared to take the blow, but felt nothing and opened her eyes in shock when she heard a grunt to see Gary had just punched the guy knocking him to the side.

"What the fuck Oak? Why the hell are you interfering? This little runt is trying to take what's mine, I'm just dealing with it, you of all people should know that a guy doesn't trespass on another man's property!" The guy said, rubbing his face as he stood back up, his other three friends went to his side.  
"Don't compare me to the likes of you… how much of a man can you be when you're here beating up a girl?" Gary said, walking over to Misty.

The guy growled and looked at Gary in anger and confusion at the same time, "What the fuck are you talking about Oak? I don't hit girls, never have, never will; I don't know what you're talking about."

Gary knelt beside Misty and lifted her face by raising her chin, scanning the injuries, before "tsking" and turned back towards the guy.  
"This is a girl you fucking moron, take a closer look you oaf."  
"Just stop it Oak, I can fight my own battles." Misty said, pushing herself to sit up, wincing from the stinging sensation of her bruised sides from the guys kicking.  
"Listen Red, can you stop acting all macho and independent for once and act like a girl? If you do, maybe you wouldn't get all beaten up by idiots like this!" Gary retaliated, Misty pushed his shoulder and tried to move away from him.  
"I don't need your help Oak! If anything I would rather get beaten up by this gorilla than have you help me!"  
"What the-! Who are you calling a gorilla you little brat!" The guy yelled, clearly blinded by rage as he charged at the pair. What Misty witnessed surprised her to no end as Gary took down the guy with ease, as well as his friends who charged at him. Gary knelt down and grabbed the guy by the collar, glaring at him directly, he sneered. "You're a bigger idiot than I thought you were. Did you really think you can take on me, Gary Oak, and actually win? You're having a laugh right." With that Gary shoved the guy, who got up with the aid of his friends as they ran off.

Misty looked in awe, she never would have guessed that Gary Oak had this side to him, but what surprised her even more was that the same Gary Oak was now squatting in front of her with his back towards her.  
"Get on, I know you probably can't move much, let alone walk." Misty could only stare at the boy in disbelief. This was the same guy who she wanted to kill throughout junior high and now here he was saving her and offering her further help.

"Whilst it's still day light Waterflower." Gary said, looking over his shoulder, Misty blinked, on the one hand she could hold onto whatever shred of pride she has left and refuse the help, and then on the other hand she could suck up that pride and be realistic and accept the help.  
"Did you just say Waterflower?" Gary and Misty both blinked, turning back to the supposedly heartbroken girl, completely forgotten for a moment.  
"Yeah, that's her name, Misty Waterflower." Gary answered, the girl only blinked, then she stared at Misty for a while, before gasping.  
Misty scratched her head awkwardly before wincing in slight pain, she looked at the girl apologetically, "Yeah, I'm Misty Waterflower… so you see, what I said…"  
"Oh my God, I'm actually dating one of the Sensational Sisters?" The girl said, this shocked Gary and Misty as they looked at the girl blankly.

"I'm sure by what you said; you mean that you still want to be with her, knowing she is female?" Gary asked, still squatting in front of Misty, unmoving.  
"Why wouldn't I? And to think, I thought I found someone who can treat me right, but now even better, I'm dating a Waterflower!" The girl said, Misty shook her head, she didn't even know what to say anymore.  
"I think you're misunderstanding, what it is… I mean, I just said those things to comfort you because you were so upset…" The girl turned to Misty, suddenly her face went from glee, to surprise, to sadness as tears welled up in her eyes, Misty wanted a big hole to open up so that she can crawl into it.  
"What it is, is that I think you're going to have to find someone else, because as much as Misty would love to be with you, she is already taken." Gary said, grabbing Misty's hands and putting them over his shoulder, he picked her up into a piggy back; Misty who was shocked by the girl didn't resist, but then blinked, and looked at Gary who was yet to walk.  
"Wait what? I'm taken?" Misty asked in confusion, the girl stood there, crossing her arms.  
"By who?" The girl asked, Gary could only smirk, looking over his shoulder at the red head.  
"Who else, me of course." He said.  
"What?" Both girls said in unison.  
"Yeah, so sorry to burst your bubble princess." Gary said, and with that he walked off with Misty, heading towards the nurse's office.

Misty sat there and watched as Gary helped her apply some ointment to her face and bandage her up, as the nurse was nowhere to be seen, Gary took it upon himself to play doctor and patient.  
"Seriously Oak…what have you been smoking these days?" Misty finally asked, the curiosity eating at her as to why Gary Oak, her enemy for so many years has just saved her, helped her and now bandaging her up.  
"What are you babbling about Red?" Gary said, his nickname given to the girl in the past because of her golden red locks.  
"You save me from those punks, you help me get away from that crazy girl, and now you're nursing me? I honestly don't believe this is the same Gary Oak I know from junior high…" Misty said looking at the boy with suspicious eyes.  
"Clearly you need to work on your manners, someone as awesome as me comes and saves you and not even a thank you." Gary said as he put away the medical kit.  
"See! This is the Gary Oak I know. Obnoxious, egoistic and annoying!" Misty said, pointing at him as she described him. Gary only turned around and glared at her, before walking back over to her.  
"You're just so kind…" Gary started, Misty could only stare at him, and Gary sighed.  
"Look, it may be hard for you to believe, but Ash and I have set aside our rivalry and in fact, we're actually friends. As hard as that may be for you to believe… and for his sake, I figured I'd give you a chance, seeing as you're such an important friend to him and what not…" Gary said shrugging.  
"Besides… at first I thought you're just a stupid feminist chick who's all mouth and no action, but… I have to say, after seeing how you stood up to that git, I'm impressed Red, seems like there really is some bite behind that bark." Gary smirked, Misty didn't know what emotion she felt, whether she should be insulted, complimented, happy or annoyed at the fact that he is still calling her that ridiculous nickname.

"Look… how about we wipe the slate blank and start over ok?" Gary asked, stretching out his hand.  
"I'm Gary Oak." Misty stared at the hand, analysing it as she remembered a prank Gary played on her once.  
"Don't worry; there are no trick buzzers, or insects." Gary reassured her, laughing as he obviously read her mind. Misty took the hand and shook it. "Waterflower, Misty Waterflower."

It was from that, that Misty realised just how much the two had in common, and that when they aren't at each other's neck, they actually worked well as a team. Their friendship grew and after high school and through into university, it became what it is, where her friendship with Gary was better than her friendship with Ash. But another thing Misty swore to take to her grave with her was that from the day that Gary Oak saved her, she felt her heart skip a beat because for once, she felt like a princess being saved by her knight. Realising her feelings some time during university, Misty knew that she will not have her happy ending, but at least she knows that Gary will always be there by her side, protecting her the way he did that very day.

"Hey Red, what are you daydreaming about aiy?" Gary called, snapping Misty back to reality from her reminiscence. The girl looked over at the brunette who was washing away the dishes and the lasagne dish, and she smiled, getting up she walked over to Gary who put the last dish on the drying rack.  
"Hey Gary..." Gary turned to her, tilting his head to the side in question. Misty stood there staring at him, she wanted to hug him, but instead went for a friendly punch to the shoulder and smiled softly.  
"I never got to say thank you." She said, Gary raised his eyebrow at the girl.  
"Thank you….for what?" He asked, clearly this puzzled him, Misty giggled and shook her head, turning her back on him and walking over to the fridge.  
"Hey, don't leave me hanging! What they hell are you on about?"

**TBC**

_Sandra: Yeah, that was a much longer chapter, because people are probably confused as to how they became friends and stuff…_

_Next chapter will be quite interesting! So keep reading and review me to keep me motivated ^^_


	5. Chapter 5

_Sandra: Whoopee! Chapter 5! sorry but exams and work is taking up a lot of my time so updates a are tinsy bit slower... ._

As Ash walked down the corridor of one of the many buildings on the university campus, he let his mind wander to a certain female he has been crushing on for a very long time, sighing he dropped his head, realising how sad it is that so much time has gone by, yet he has never had the courage to confess his feelings.

Ash's depression was short lived, as it was replaced by surprise when Gary jumped onto his back and clung on as if Ash were giving him a piggy back.  
"Ashy-boy! Why the long face man?" Gary asked, hopping off his friend and walking along side him. Ash just smiled and shook his head.  
"You're in particularly good moods today Oak. What gives?" The raven haired boy asked, trying to change the topic, which he succeeded.  
"Let's just say I had a pretty good day yesterday." Gary grinned, Ash shook his head with a knowing smile.  
"Dude, seriously when are you gonna stop this girl after girl thing and settle down with just…one girl…?" Ash asked, knowing his long time rival, now friend and practically brother, he knew that the only thing remotely close to the thought of Gary settling down is the fact that he will give the other half of his ying yang pendant which his deceased mother left him to "the one".  
"Ashy-boy, Ashy-boy, Ashy-boy… We're only young once! Live your life a little man!" Gary said, putting his arm around Ash's shoulder, his other arm stretched and waved in an outward motion as if emphasising some sort of horizon.

With Gary's giant gesture, both boys eyes followed the moving hand and noticed Misty walking over to the pair.  
"Well, well, well lover boy, looks like your princess has just arrived." Gary whispered, making Ash scowl and blush slightly as he backhanded Gary in the chest to indicate for him to shut up.

"Hey guys…have you seen May?" Misty asked, looking between the pair, Gary tapped his chin as if deep in thought.  
"Well…let's see… I might have, I might not have…" Gary started, Misty tapped her foot impatiently.  
"I do believe I saw her with a bunch of extremely hot girls jumping and twirling about in their sexy cheerleading uniforms." Gary said, making Ash laugh and Misty roll her eyes.  
"Whatever… you're such a perv you know that Gary?" Misty said, placing her hands on her hips in a very May fashion.  
"Perv is such a nasty word; I would call it admiration of beauty." Gary said in a very posh accent, making Ash laugh even more.  
"Whatever, a perv is a perv. Anyway, I got to run, so I'll see you at yours later tonight for some SF4 and some old school Pokémon Stadium!" Misty said as she ran off. Ash's eyes followed the girl until she disappeared around the corner, and this did not go unnoticed by the other male standing right next to him.  
"You know you should ask her out." Gary said, patting his friend on the shoulder before walking ahead of him. Ash's eyes widened as he caught up to Gary, walking beside him.  
"Are you crazy? I can't ask out Misty!" Gary raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the boy.  
"I don't see why not… I mean I teased you guys enough about it during junior high… even now I still do it. I see the chemistry between you guys! And besides…Red deserves someone good in her life, and I know you would treat her the way she deserves… I know you won't break her heart." Gary said coolly, however, it had the opposite effect on Ash, where Gary tried to go for the epiphany moment, instead, it came out rather cheesy.  
"Thanks Gary, but you seriously got to stop watching those chick flicks dude… It works on the chicks, but it's not cool with us brothers." Ash said, patting Gary on the shoulder with a big grin.  
"As long as it gets me the girls Ashy-boy!" Gary shrugged happily, "Let's go cheerleader practice before it's over!"

As the two walked down the corridors, Ash couldn't help but chuckle to himself, it caught Gary's attention, and he raised his eyebrow in question.  
"I was just thinking about the cheesy thing you said earlier…it's just bazaar how you and Misty are such good friends now when you think about how the two of you were in the past."

Gary pondered on this for a moment and a small smile graced his lips, remembering his mischievous past, and how he's changed. He wouldn't admit it, but since becoming friends with Ash and then Misty, his life has changed a lot. He was still a cocky arrogant egoist and exceptionally proud of it, but he had friends who liked him for who he was and not because of his popularity or his dashing good looks. Especially with someone like Misty who really kept him nailed to earth. The girl made him realise a lot of things about himself that he never knew. And he let her know just how important she is to him, after all, asides from his older sister, he honestly can't think of any other female he would jump into a sea full of angry Tentacruels to save.  
Turning to Ash, he grinned, "Even bazaar is an understatement."

*

As Gary and Ash make it to the sports hall that the cheerleaders were practicing in, a few of the girls were leaving, openly flirting with the two handsome males as they exited.  
"Ladies" Gary said, throwing them a charming smile as he held the door open for them, bowing slightly, watching them walk past as their skirts flitted left to right.  
"Misty's right, you are a perv!" Ash laughed as he pushed the other into the hall. They noticed Misty and May standing near the bleachers and walked over, settling on the wooden seats beside the girls.  
"What do you mean you can't come with me to the contest? It's the biggest Pokémon contest in all of Kanto!" May exclaimed, the guys blinked as they clearly entered at the wrong time.  
"I'm sorry May; it's just that I kind of promised Gary I'd help him pick a suit for his graduation ceremony…" Misty tried to explain, Gary felt a million sweat drops run down the back of neck out of nervousness as May's angry eyes turned on him, he gulped and put on the Oak charm.  
"Hello May, looking lovely today." May narrowed her eyes, making Gary laugh nervously.  
"Gary's a big boy, I'm sure he can go pick out his own suit." May said, Misty looked at Gary, silently asking him for help. Ash looked at the distressed look on the redhead's face.  
"Misty! These are V.I.P tickets! You know how rare these tickets are!" May continued, but stopped her rant when Ash placed a hand on her shoulder.  
"If you don't mind, can I come with you to the contest instead?" All of them looked at Ash in surprise.  
"Would you really Ash?" May asked, then looking towards Misty who was looking at Ash in surprise also.  
"Uh…yeah, sure it sounds really cool, and like you said, these tickets are pretty rare. It would be a waste." Ash said, not anticipating May throwing herself at him and hugging him happily.  
Ash looked towards Misty who smiled at him and mouthed the words "thank you", Ash could only blush and look away just to catch the eye of his other friend who gave him two thumbs up.

The happy moment was short lived however when an angry call of "Misty Waterflower!" echoed through the hall. Misty blinked and looked over to the door where an angry Sakura was stomping her way towards the group, May stood next to Misty and muttered, "What did you do now?" Misty replied back with a "beats me…"  
"You…you…I trusted you!" Sakura cried as she stormed right up to Misty's face, pointing her finger directly at the girl, the redhead just smacked the hand out of her vision and furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the girl as if she has finally snapped.  
"Can I help you Sakura?" Misty asked, placing both hands behind her head in a relaxed manner.  
"Don't you act all innocent, you promised you would give that note to Gary for me! He didn't show up for our date, he didn't call me, he hasn't even said hi to me in the hallway!" The girl cried, stomping her foot like a child throwing a tantrum.  
Misty rolled her eyes, "One, I didn't promise you anything." Then she raised two fingers, "Two, it's true, I didn't give your stupid note to Gary. Quite frankly I don't care about you enough to go out of my way like that."  
Sakura fumed, gritting her teeth.  
"Three…" Misty scanned her nails uninterestedly, "…the reason Gary doesn't say hi to you is because you're just not that special." Even May's eyes widened, knowing her friend disliked the bubbly cheerleader, but didn't expect her to come out with it like this. Sakura's hands balled into fist as her temper boiled further.  
"And number four…" May shook her head, not knowing how far her friend would go, worried a fight may break out, "Gary is sitting right here…" Misty said, stepping to one side.

Sakura gasped, straightening out her clothes, she looked at Gary bashfully, "Uhm…Gary…hi…" She said. Gary got up from his seat and walked over to the girl, making the girl fidget on the spot.  
"So you had a note for me?" Gary asked, putting on the Oak charm and throwing the girl the smile that no female could resist.  
"Well, I did…and I asked Misty to hand it to you, seeing as I've known her for so many years, you'd think you could trust someone you know…" Sakura said, sending a quick evil glance at Misty before smiling sweetly back at Gary.  
"Well, if you wanted a date, you could have just asked." Gary said, leaning close to the girl, sending shivers down the girl's spine.  
"I was thinking of going to the movies and…" The conversation was cut short as Misty barged past the two, literally knocking Gary on the shoulder, as she stormed out of the hall.  
"I've got to go." Gary said as he chased after Misty. Sakura jumped happily and hugged May.  
"Oh my God, can you believe it May, I have a date with Gary Oak!" Sakura cheered as she ran out of the hall to spread the news to her fellow peers.  
"I can't believe Gary just did that…" May said, staring at the door where the three disappeared through.  
"Don't worry May." Ash said reassuringly, but recoiled back as May snapped back at him.  
"Did you just not see what happened?! Misty can't bloody stand Sakura, and now Gary is actually going on a date with her!"  
"Will you relax May! Have a bit more faith in Gary, he didn't even promise the girl anything and ran off, he doesn't have any intentions on dating Sakura, otherwise he would have at least taken down her number or something." Ash said, May looked into the dark eyes of her friend and nodded, sighing in worry over her Misty.

*

As Misty stormed down the corridors briskly, people moving out of her path in fear, she didn't know where she wanted to go, but she knew she had to get far away from the sports hall, especially from the two people who just set off her angry streak, but in particularly from one particular guy, who is now in hearing and visual sight.

"Hey Red, will you slow down? Wait up!" Gary called as he chased after the girl, who showed no signs of stopping in her tracks, but instead increased in speed. Gary glared at the back of the redhead as his command went ignored and increased his speed, catching up to the girl just as she turned the corner, he grabbed her by the arm and roughly spun her around, holding her shoulders.  
"Can you just wait a second and let me explain?" He demanded, but Misty tried to shake off his hands, not looking him in the eyes, after finally getting the male's hands off of her, she pushed at his chest to put some distance between the two of them before glaring at him.  
"Explain what? That you're going on a date with that bimbo Sakura when it was quite clear that I didn't like her?" Misty said sarcastically, making it sound less like a question and more like a comment.  
"You're being unreasonable…" Misty cut off the brunette by raising her eyebrows and gasping.  
"I'm being unreasonable? She is a bimbo, I'm not exaggerating, you don't know her Gary! I've known her since I was young and she hasn't changed one bit, I was just showing you her true colours behind that cutesy voice and cheerleader image, and you say I' being unreasonable?! You're so-" This time it was Gary's turn to cut off the girl as he ran his hand's through his hair in annoyance and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.  
"Would you JUST let me finish?!" Misty stopped her rant, but her glare was still as fierce and cold as it was to begin with.  
"Look, I didn't say I would go on a date with her. Hell, I didn't even know that girl's name till JUST now!" Gary defended, crossing his arms in the process. Misty's glare softened, and eventually her expression went from anger, to guilt as she down casted her eyes in shame. Gary noticed Misty's change in emotions and the guilt that ate at her, he sighed as he ran his hands through his hair once more.  
"Look Misty, I'm sure you had great intentions as to why you didn't give me that note, and I trust you." That caught Misty's attention as she looked up at Gary with wide eyes, Gary smiled at her and got nearer to her, ruffling her hair he continued, "So don't worry, I won't be going anywhere near her ok?"  
Misty felt tears well up in her eyes, but she took a deep breath and grabbed Gary's hand gently, stopping his actions, looking down at her shoes.  
"Would you stop that… look... Gary… I…" Misty felt warm fingers on her chin as her head was listed gently, her emerald blue eyes met soothing dark brown eyes and she felt her breath hitch once again.  
"Look me in the eyes when you're talking to me." He said in a low husky voice, Misty was frozen, she felt as if Gary was looking right through her, deep into the core of her soul, her mouth felt dry and her mind felt hazy, so all she could come out with was a quiet but heard "I'm sorry…"  
Gary shook his head and smiled warmly at the girl, "Like I said before, you're my number one girl, always."  
Misty felt her cheeks get hot as she averted her eyes, noticing that she was still holding the hand which Gary used to ruffle her hair and she quickly let go, filled with embarrassment.  
"Seriously you got to stop saying things like that…" Misty muttered, Gary could only chuckle in response, glad that the tension between the two was finally gone.

"So… how about when I'm buying my suit, we find a little something for you?" Gary said, changing to a lighter subject, it was enough to bring Misty's usual smile back as the two continued walking down the hallway without any particular destination in mind.  
"Don't you worry about me Oak; I got a nice waist coat suit prepared for your graduation." Misty grinned, giving the brunette a bright smile and a thumbs up. Gary could only stare at the girl blankly as she shook his head in disappointment.  
"It's my graduation ceremony and you're gonna turn up in pants?" Misty scrunched up her nose and then stuck her tongue out at her friend, "You know I don't do dresses."  
"It's my big day and you can't even do it just this once? You should dress to compliment me, not try to outshine me, that's Ashy-boy's job… not that he or anyone else for that matter can outshine me." Gary smirked; Misty just rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him, used to his egoistic ways.

**TBC**

_Sandra: Next chapter is gonna be kind of interesting, so hope you enjoyed this!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Sandra: Just because you guys are so awesome for keep reading and reviewing me, so I'll make this chapter extra special!_

_ I think this is the chapter that's gonna make a difference, the turning point if you would call it. It will probably be the longest chapter in the entire fic, so enjoy it!_

Gary took deep gulps of the water from the bottle in his hand, rubbing his now damp hair slightly with the towel around his neck, a few drops slipping down his bare chest and eventually reaching the hem of his gray sweat pants. He strutted over to his answering machine, pausing in his drinking for just one moment to hit the play button before resuming the process of finishing his water.

"Hello Mr. Oak, this is a call to let you know that your application for a Master's course at Soleil University has been assessed, and we are delighted to invite you for an interview at our institution. Could you please contact us as soon as possible to arrange a day and time? This is a rare opportunity for someone abroad, but what we have seen and heard so far is beyond impressive, so we do hope to hear from you soon." As the message ended with a beep, Gary spat out the liquid in surprise and stared at the recording machine as if it had come alive, blinking a couple of times, he even pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

*

"I got a reply from one of the universities about the Master's course." Gary said as he went through the rack of finely designed suits, looking over at Misty who snapped her head in his direction before running over to him in excitement.  
"Are you serious?" Misty asked as she examined the other's expression for any signs of deceit.  
"Why would I lie?" Gary asked with a big smile on his face, the redhead's excitement becoming very contagious as he felt the joy bubble up inside him.

Misty threw her arms around Gary in a tight congratulating hug as she jumped up and down, Gary laughed as he wrapped his arms around the smaller individual.  
"Congratulations Gary! So tell me, which university are you going?" Misty said looking up at the others face, Gary's smile grew further if it were possible.  
"I'm going Soleil!" He answered, holding Misty at arms reach as he outstretched his arms in a wide gesture, he closed his eyes an had a relaxed smile on his face as he tilted his head back, letting out a happy sigh, he was going places and he was climbing to the top.

Misty didn't know what to say, on the one hand, she was happy for her friend, after all Soleil was ranked #1 in the world, especially for its research department which is what Gary was specialising in, but on the other hand…  
"It's going to be great Misty! Beautiful weather, amazing lifestyle, and super hot girls! I can finally get out away from my old gramps shadow and show them what Gary Oak really can do! I'm gonna be a legend outside these regions!" Gary said as he continued to go through the racks of suits, justifying Misty's reason to be unhappy at the fact her friend was going to this high ranked university. He would be leaving, far away.

Gary paused in his happy searching and turned to Misty, then frowned, noticing the lack of joy on the other's face.  
"Hey Red, you ok?" Misty shook her head and forced a big smile on her face, walking over to Gary and taking the suit out of the other's hand, putting it back on the rack.  
"That one doesn't really suit you." She said as she continued to search through the suits. Gary furrowed his eyebrows, stopping the girl and turning her to face him, he looked her in the eyes with worry.  
"What's the matter Misty?" Misty looked into the dark brown eyes, she felt her insides churn and her face get hot, so she opted to close her eyes an let out a small smile before opening her eyes and grinning wildly.  
"I'm just surprised that's all. You'll be gone pretty far man, the rest of us don't plan to go that far…" Misty started, Gary's eyes widened and he nodded.  
"You're right…I need to throw a big party one last time! That way I can announce it to everyone in one go. Red you're a genius! I completely forgot about that!" Gary said, completely off track, but Misty smiled at her friend's obliviousness and nodded in agreement.

"You're going to finally live you dream Gary. Congratulations." Misty said before turning her back on the other, a single tear slipping down her cheek.  
"Damn right I am Misty Waterflower!" Gary cheered, turning to look at Misty, who wiped away the tears quickly before turning on her heel to smile at her friend, before they continued to search for the right suit for the handsome brunette.

*

Music could be heard blasting from the small little radio on the desktop, batons and pompoms could be seen in one corner of the room and a cheerleader outfit hung up proudly on the wardrobe door. Laying on top of red satin sheets was May who happily swung her legs back an forth, packets of snacks around her, a magazine lay open in front of her as she used one hand to turn the page, the other hand holding a pocky stick which she took a bite of, not once interrupting her as she read the contents of the glossy magazine page.

A loud knock could be heard from her door, drawing the pretty brunette's attention away from the bit of reading material as she popped the rest of her snack into her mouth, she hopped off her bed and walked over to the door, opening it, she suddenly smiled brightly as she grabbed her visitors hand and dragged the other in, kicking the door shut on her way.

"Oh my God Mist! You totally missed it! The contest was amazing! And on top of that, we got to meet some of the best breeders, and I even got a few tips from some of them! They even gave me and Ash some of their best pokéblocks to sample! Can you believe it?" May said in one breath as she jumped up an down, still holding onto Misty's hand, but her happiness came to a slow halt as she realised the lack of enthusiasm from her usually happy friend.

"I thought you would be more excited an a bit more jealous that you missed the event of the year… what's wrong Misty?" May said, pulling the girl down onto her bed, moving asides her packets of snacks.  
"Gary got offered a place at Soleil." Misty said, May blinked and grinned.  
"That's wonderful! He's so lucky! As much as I hate to admit it, but he is a really smart guy." May replied, not quite understanding her friend's lack of joy.  
"You don't get it May? He's leaving…" Misty said, her eyes started watering as she looked at the ground, willing herself not to cry. May hugged her friend and a sad smile graced her face.  
"I told you that you're protective of him." May joked, trying to lighten the mood.  
"Who said I was protective of him…" Misty answered, looking at her friend, but once their eyes made contact, she couldn't help but feel herself fall apart inside.  
"It's just…you know…I thought he would always be here for me, and now he's going…it's just…"  
"I know, I know Misty, but you want what's best for Gary right? I mean eventually you guys would have parted one way or another, be when you guys start working or when you start your own family… but it's not like you guys still won't be friends, right?" May said, trying her best to comfort the other female, knowing that the Oak was someone important to her.  
"I guess you're right…" Misty agreed, wiping at her eyes before any of the tears fell. May just giggled and gave her friend a tight hug.  
"Of course I'm right you silly tomboy. You know sometimes…the way you are, it seems like you're in love with Gary or something." This caused Misty to push away from May, a pink tint across her cheeks.  
"Whoa! Stop it right there missy, Gary and I are just friends! That's all there is to it!" Misty said, holding her hands up defensively, making May break into laughter.  
"I know that! I was just saying that's all! Calm down Misty, it's not like you're actually in love with Gary! He's not even your type! If anything, he's the type you can't usually stand." May said as her laughter calmed own, Misty laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.  
"Yeah right, like duh, as if I would be in love with Gary that egoistic man-whore right…"

The two continued to laugh a little more before they calmed down, then Misty stood up, going to grab a drink from the fridge.  
"Gary's planning to throw a house party by the way, you know, to celebrate and what not." Misty said, taking out a can of soda, before kicking the fridge shut, leaning against it, she cracked open the tin and took a big gulp of its contents.  
"Oh really? That sounds awesome! I hope there's a theme! Fancy dress parties are one of the best!" May grinned, suddenly starry eyed at the thought of shopping for something new.  
"Oh there is…" Misty said, unenthusiastically as she walked back over to her friend, sitting back down once more.  
"What is it? What's the theme?" May asked, her min already reeling with a million ideas as to what she could possibly buy and wear.  
Misty looked at the girl, chugging down the rest of her drink, she crushed the can between her hands, "Pimps and whores" she answered as she threw the can perfectly into the bin, "where only the guys can come as pimps, and the girls have to come as whores…" she said as she scrunched up her nose at the idea.  
"That's a bit sexist isn't it…?" May asked as she crossed her arms, not the she planned to turn up as a pimp, but she would have liked to have the option to.  
"Precisely… and where I argued with him, he said that 'this is my leaving part, I should get to decide on the details in order for it to be absolutely memorable' … which in other words, he's saying that I'm not allowed to come dressed as a pimp and that's final…what an ass!"Misty said, putting on a pompous voice and accent as if mimicking Gary, rolling her eyes and throwing her arms in the air in annoyance by the end of her rant.

"Well, the pervert's idea isn't all that bad…looks like you'll really need my help Misty Waterflower."  
Misty nodded her head in agreement as she groaned, "It's either you, or I beg my sisters to come down and help me out…which I really do not want to do…"  
May laughed at her friend's dilemma as she was being forced to step out of her comfort zone.  
"Don't worry Misty, I'm sure with a bit of alcohol, even if you ran down the streets butt naked, you wouldn't care." May grinned, patting her friend on the back, a little more excited than Misty would appreciate, already dreading the thought of asking her only female friend for help.  
"Maybe I should ask my sisters for help instead…" She muttered as May began to list off the many ideas that got more and more excessive each time.

*

It was the day of Gary's big celebration party, and guys and girls were getting ready for the party of the year. Ash turned up at Gary's house with a big grin, both hands holding bags full of alcohol and a backpack on his shoulder with his clothes for the night. Gary could only grin as he took one of the bags from Ash's hand and let his friend in. In the shopping mall, Misty could be seen cringing and shaking her head in disagreement at every item of clothing that May picked out for her, occasionally the redhead would run out of the store, and May would chase her and drag her back.

As the day went on, with Ash and Gary prepared the snacks and drinks in the house, people began to make their way to the brunette's home. As Gary finished off the final food preparations and turned the stereo up to full blast, Ash stepped out of the male's room dressed in a black vest, an open white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of dark jeans with a couple of tears tastefully along the legs. His usual cap was missing for the night, and his hair was slightly more tamed than its usual bed head spikes. Gary looked his friend up and down and nodded as he walked over to the other, popping the collar of the boy's shirt he nodded before walking past the other into his room to get changed.

As May and Misty finally arrived at the Oak's private home, May couldn't help but laugh as Misty once again stumbled over, holding onto her friend, she giggled as the other held the front of her trench coat tightly, taking a couple of hops before attempting to walk once more in the stiletto heels.  
Finally reaching the front door, May pressed the door bell and waited for someone to answer.  
"God May, I feel so weird right now!" Misty said, as she fidgeted on the spot, feeling very self conscious.  
"Relax Mist, you look fabulous! Trust me! The guys will be all over you!" May said, trying to calm her friend down, Misty could only groan and roll her eyes.

The door opened, and Ash grinned at the pair, "Took your time ladies."  
May walked in and smiled, unbuttoning her coat as she stepped into the warmth of the building, Misty following behind, but showing no signs of exposing her outfit underneath.  
"Well, getting Misty dressed was a bit of a challenge, but actually getting her out the door was a whole other story!" May said as Ash shut the door, and as he turned back to the two females, he couldn't help but eye up the outfit the pretty brunette was dressed in, he could only think of one word that left his lips without him thinking, "wow" but it went unheard by the two girls under the volume of the music blaring from the speakers.  
"Hey! I have you know, it was these damn heels that were slowing me down! How do you walk in these at the pace you go at? I almost snapped my ankle five times on our way here!" Misty complained, pointing at the black stilettos she had trouble travelling in. Misty's complaint caught Ash's attention, and whilst she may still be wearing her jacket, what he could see made his mouth hang open.

"Wow Misty…you look…different…" He managed to get out, but it gave Misty the wrong idea as she looked away in embarrassment.  
"Uh…well…"  
"No, no, I mean, in a good way, you look very girly with make up on!" Ash explained, waving his hands in a defensive way, Misty just blushed at the compliment.  
"So…uh….why don't I take your coats?" Ash said trying to change the subject as he rubbed the back of his neck, May happily handed her coat to the male as she looked over to Misty, expecting the girl to do the same, but instead the Waterflower pulled her jacket tighter and shook her head, "I think I'll keep my coat on a little longer…it's kind of…cold in here…"  
May sighed and shrugged with a small smile on her face, "Guess she didn't have enough to drink before we got here…"  
Ash smiled and nodded, "I'm sure she'll loosen up later on."  
Misty looked at the two in annoyance as her two friends were talking as if her presence wasn't there.  
"I'm going to find Gary…" She said, as she headed off into the mass of people, most of the faces she has seen on campus but have never really spoken to; suddenly she felt even more self conscious as she felt a number of eyes follow her movements, and a few cat calls in her direction.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Oak's residence, Gary walked over to the pair now lingering by the drinks table as the two threw back a shot of jelly vodka each; with a big smile; he neared the two and placed a hand on the females shoulder.

"Well, well, well Maple, glad you could make it to the party, looking very foxy!" The party host commented, grinning at the slight surprised expression that flickered over the smaller brunette's face before she smiled back brightly, throwing her arms around Gary in a big hug.  
"Oh my God! Gary, hey, congratulations on getting into Soleil!" She cheered, turning back to the table, she grabbed another two shot glasses, handing one to the taller brunette, she smiled, clinking their glasses together, Gary raised his glass with a smile and nodded, before they both threw back the solidified alcohol.  
"I assume Red's already told you then…which reminds me, where is she? I've looked out for all the pimps around here, not one looks like that confused friend of ours." Gary said, scanning his eyes once more over the crowd of people, but failing to locate the fiery girl, Ash also scanned the crowd and frowned, not seeing the other girl for quite some time, he decided to go look for her, nodding at Gary before excusing himself from the pair.  
May could only smirk, the alcohol clearly starting to kick in, changing her usually sweet person into one that matched the sexy red corset and hot pants she was wearing.  
"She's not a pimp tonight Oak." The girl said, picking up another two glasses of shots, she once again handed the other male the small glass, and clinked their glasses before throwing it back in one quick motion.  
Gary raised an eyebrow and smirked, throwing his drink back also, he placed the glass down on the table, "Well, I best be on the lookout for one boyish whore then." He grinned. May then grabbed his hand and led him into the group of people swaying and grinding in the big open space to the loud blaring music, "How about a dance before you go looking for her?" Gary can't say no to his guests, it would be impolite, and especially when it's a smoking hot cheerleader dressed like a member of the Moulin Rouge.

*

"There you are!" Ash said, as he caught up to Misty by the staircase which she descended.  
"Hey Ash, you know Gary is damn spoilt, most students live in apartments or share houses with other people, this bloody git gets himself a house all to himself, and not the small kind either!" Misty complained, making it down to the ground floor, crossing her arms, she huffed in annoyance.  
"Well, that's what you get for being the only grandson of one of the greatest Pokémon researchers." Ash said, laughing at the redheads reactions of rolling her eyes.  
"Anyway, that spoilt git is with Mary at the moment…how about we go get a drink first? You seriously need to loosen up a bit Misty!" Ash said, slightly mocking the girl as he led her to the other room. As they got to the drinks table, Ash picked up two shot glasses and handed one to the other, who only examined the contents suspiciously.  
"Why shots of all drinks?" Misty asked, looking at Ash with worried eyes, the boy laughed and shrugged.  
"Gary's idea, come on drink up! It'll loosen you up quicker!" Ash said, clinking their glasses before he threw the liquid back in one go. Misty gulped, before closing her eyes tightly, she swallowed the liquid, which burned as it went down her throat, a bitter yet sweet after taste lingered in her mouth.  
"I'm definitely not going to remember anything by the end of this night." Misty groaned, feeling a slight change in her senses.  
"You definitely won't remember anything by the time I'm through with you." Ash grinned, handing the girl another glass, this time a different colour. Misty sighed, knowing that it was futile to resist, so as she did earlier, clinking the tiny glass with her raven head friend, they both threw the drink back quickly, swallowing it in one. Misty cringed, not liking the taste of this one, making Ash burst into laughter.  
"You know…this is definitely a different side to you Ash." Misty said, smiling at the male, Ash stopped his laughing, but a smile still lingered on his face as he tilted his head to one side, "how so Misty?"  
The girl turned to the table and picked up a glass of vodka jelly, the alcohol effect already kicking in as her mind was no longer suspicious but curious as she shrugged and threw the wobbly alcohol into her mouth and swallowed, nodding in agreement to the taste.  
"I don't know…something about you seems…different…kind of confident in a way, more than usual." She said, picking up another two glasses of vodka jelly, she handed the green one to Ash, and kept the blue one in her hands.  
Ash shrugged at her comment, not noticing any difference in his behaviour, but then again, being intoxicated by alcohol leads you to believe that anything you do is normal, "I think the alcohols finally getting to ya, you're just hallucinating Miss. Waterflower." And with that, Ash clinked their glasses and the two threw back the contents of the glass.  
"Well, I know the alcohol's definitely getting to my bladder, I'm gonna use the bathroom." Misty grinned, turning on her heel and running off, Ash could only smile, seeing the slightly confidence change in the redhead now that she had a couple of drinks.

*

As Misty exited the toilet, sighing in relief as she let the next person dash into the bathroom who was clutching their mouth tightly, as the door slammed, sounds of puking and gagging could be heard faintly under the loud music playing in the house. Misty shivered at the thought of getting so drunk to the point of puking, she did not want to be in that situation.

As she wandered down the corridor, approaching the stairs to go down to find Ash, she heard May's voice giggling, turning towards the location of her friend's voice, she came to a door which looked oddly familiar to her, but then again, after going to Gary's house so many times, it's no surprise that the entire house looked familiar. It was upon opening the door, she realised it was Gary's room that she stumbled upon, but opening the door to a small amount, she stopped in her actions, her eyes widened in shock as she indeed saw May in the room, who kneeled with one knee on the edge of the bed, the other foot on the ground, her arms wrapped around a male's neck as she passionately made out with the other.  
When the two pulled apart was when Misty felt her heart shatter, as the two in the room still have not noticed the redhead at the partially opened door. Gary smirked up at May, eye's full of lust his hands which were wrapped around the girls waist pulled the girl close again, their lips crashing together once more as his hands travelled over the other brunette's butt which was shaped out perfectly thanks to the tight black hot pants she wore.  
Misty's hand on the doorknob tightened as she turned away from the scene, slamming the door, she ran to the stairs, hurrying down without falling, she felt her eyes water, clenching them shut tightly as her foot touched the ground floor, she gasped when she felt herself collide against someone else.

"Hey there you are…" Misty looked up at Ash who smiled at her, but his frown turned upside down when he noticed the tears that glistened in the others eyes, Misty pulled away from Ash and headed to the backyard, Ash followed suit.

"Misty, hey, what's wrong?" He asked as he approached the girl who was sitting on a ledge , the girl was breathing heavily as she tried to stop the tears that threatened to fall, clenching her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Ash looked in worry as he neared the girl, placing one arm around the other's shoulders, his other hands on top of one of her clenched fists, his thumb moved in a soft circular motion to try and relax the girl.  
"You wanna talk about what upset you?" Ash asked softly, lowering his head so he can look at the girl's face, the blue emerald like eyes were hidden by her midnight blue eye shadowed eye lids.  
"Gary…May…they're just…argh…." Misty didn't even know how to explain how she felt, angry, betrayed, confused, upset…many different emotions ran through her, and it was getting harder to stop the tears from falling as one managed to escape and roll down her cheek.  
Ash lifted the girl's face, and using his thumb, he gently wiped away the single fallen drop, causing Misty to open her eyes, she looked into the others dark worried eyes, before being pulled into a hug, Ash didn't understand clearly why the girl was upset, but it was something to do with their friends, he could only give one explanation.  
"They're both drunk Misty, I'm sure whatever it is they did was not intentionally to hurt you."  
Misty looked up towards the sky, her arms slowly wrapping around Ash as she took in a deep breath, she was lucky that Ash was always there for her ever since they first met, he always knew how to comfort her and protect her from the things that Gary did to hurt her, even if he didn't fully understand what the brunette actually did to hurt her the way it did.

Pulling away from the other, she put on her best smile as she stood up, pulling Ash by the hand as she led him into the house, "Let's drink!"

"Are you sure Misty?" Ash asked as he tried to dodge and weave in between the people that Misty cut past until they finally reached the drinks table once more, the girl grabbed a glass and threw the drink back, not even cringing before picking up another two and handing one to the concerned raven.  
"Of course I'm sure, now are you going to drink with me Ash or am I going to have to put you to shame?" She challenged, raising her glass towards him before throwing back the drink, again, not even cringing or showing any signs of backing down. Ash just nodded and mimicked the girl.  
As they threw back a couple more glasses, Misty started to sway on the spot, making Ash worried as he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, to try and stabilize her. Misty just shrugged off Ash's hand and smiled at him, shaking her head, before unbuttoning her jacket, stripping it off in a seductive manner, once it was off, she threw it to one side where it landed on someone who was asleep on the couch.

Ash's mouth gaped, as his eyes ran up and down the girl slowly, drinking in her appearance.  
"How do I look?" Misty purred, placing both hands on her hips as she twirled slowly on the spot, Ash gulped, he was at a loss for words.  
"Uh…oh…man….Misty…" Ash tried to get his brain and mouth to function properly, but his lack of words only gave the red head the wrong impression as she began to sulk.  
"No good? Not sexy enough?" She asked as if a child got told their piece of art work done at pre-school was ugly. Ash shook his head quickly, eyes widened.  
"No, no, no, just…damn…you look…amazing." Ash said, finally getting some sense back. He couldn't believe that the Misty Waterflower he has known since junior high was the same one standing in front of him. White and red sneakers were replaced by black stiletto heels with small diamantes on the ankle strap. Her usually baggy jeans and bright yellow vest was a contrast in comparison to the blue almost sheer blouse top she wore which tucked under the black form fitting pencil denim skirt that went from above her knees, all the way up just underneath her breasts. Every curve could was exposed in the most seductive way, leaving more to the imagination than anything the girl has ever worn before.  
What dazzled Ash the most was the bright smile that graced the girls lips before she grabbed the others hand and led him to the dance floor.

As May and Gary enter the room where the guests were dancing, drinking or flirting with the net person their eyes lay on, the male brunette noticed his old time rival dancing in the middle of the group, his back towards the pair. He smirked, glad that his male friend had some guts, as the raven haired boy whined low with the female whose arms were up in the air and moving in sensual motions.  
"Who's Ashy-boy dancing with?" Gary asked, curious as to who else would catch the other's attention asides their tomboy friend.  
May peered over, then smiled as she dragged Gary over to the pair.  
"It's about time you loosened up and enjoyed the party Misty!" the female brunette grinned as she got close to the couple, Gary's eyes widened in surprise for the second time thanks to the young Waterflower.  
Misty turned towards the voice that called her name, and her smile dropped when she saw the other couple, May's arm around Gary's waist now, she suddenly felt like her legs were ready to give way, but then she felt Ash's arms wrapped around her waist, she suddenly felt a bit more at ease and a little more stable.

"Well it's about time the two of you decided to join the rest of the party." Ash smirked, laughing a little at his own joke.  
"Well, it's my party; I can't leave it for my own personal matters now can I?" Gary smirked back, pulling May a little closer; the girl slapped Gary playfully on the chest and laughed, "I was the one who had to convince you to get back to the party." She said, exposing the male's lie, they all laughed, except Misty who just looked away from the laughing couple in front of her.

Gary noticed Misty's lack of enjoyment and furrowed his eyebrows, his voice now full of concern, "Hey Red, you ok?"  
Misty just nodded, not looking the other in the eyes, "Yeah I'm fine."  
Gary didn't believe the girl and hated when he was being lied to directly to his face, "Don't lie to me."  
Misty now turned her attention towards Gary, her expression shocked the other as her eyes were full of anger, and he could have sworn he saw tears glistening, her eyes looked like a raging storm in the sea and Gary knew his ship just sunk.  
"Why would I need to lie to you Oak? Enjoy your party…" She said, and with that, she pulled away from Ash and the rest of the group as she made her way to the couch, grabbing her jacket off the sleeping figure on the couch, she walked directly to the door.

The three looked in her direction in worry, and as Gary was about to chase after the girl, Ash put his hand on the other's shoulder, shaking his head, "I'll go after her." And with that he ran towards the door in chase of the red head.

"What's the matter with Misty?" May asked, now filled with worry, Gary could only stare in the direction of the exit, suddenly an unsettling feeling inside of him.  
"I want to know myself."

*

"Hey Misty! Wait up!" Ash yelled as he chased after the girl, Misty didn't stop, Ash sped up the pace and dived to catch the girl when she stumbled over.  
"You ok?" Ash asked, panting slightly, Misty nodded before straightening herself up, as she tried to walk again, suddenly she felt her head spin, she wobbled once more, and Ash caught her once again.  
"I think you have had way too much to drink tonight." Ash joked, holding the girl by her waist, Misty's hands on the other's shoulders.  
"I agree…" She answered, suddenly her head began to spin as she fell against the other, groaning.  
"Oh God Misty, you're heavy!"Ash laughed, catching the girl easily.  
"That's mean Ash Ketchum!" Misty said, pulling her head up to mock glare at the other who was chuckling.  
"Ok I'm sorry, would you ever forgive this poor peasant oh great princess?" Misty hummed a little looking towards the sky before smiling back at the other, pecking him on the cheek, she nodded.  
"You are forgiven." She had a soft smile on her face, eyes closed and sighed, Ash always knew how to cheer her up when Gary upset her.

Opening her eyes, she was now staring directly into the dark stormy eyes of the raven head. She tilted her head in a questioning manner when suddenly her eyes widened when she felt Ash's lips on hers. It was not forceful but yet there was a lot of passion behind the kiss, and just for that moment. Suddenly her mind thought of Gary and then led to what she saw between her two friends, she pulled away, her hands against Ash's chest, and she looked down towards the ground.  
"Ash…I'm sorry…I just…can't…" She whispered, but that did not stop Ash who panicked, letting go of the girl's waist, the now took hold of her hands that were against his chest.  
"Why…? I mean…Misty…that kiss…it was…"  
"A mistake Ash…I'm sorry…it's just…complicated…" Misty said, trying to pull her hands away from the warm tight hold of the male. Ash didn't let go and tried to look at Misty's face.  
"What's so complicated? I mean…Misty… I've been crazy about you for so long…and after tonight…I just thought that… Misty…honestly, why not? When I kissed you, I know you kissed me back…so…"  
"I'm in love with Gary." Misty said, cutting Ash's rant short. The other's mouth hung open, he didn't know how to respond, as his grip suddenly loosened, and eventually let go of the girl's hands, his own arms falling down by his side.  
"I'm sorry Ash…I never realised that you…felt that way about me…but…I've been in love with Gary for so long…and oh God…" Misty's eyes began to water, tears started streaking down her face as he blended with the mascara on her lashes, causing the tear streaks to come down black.  
"…tonight after I saw him with May…I felt my heart break…" Misty's voice cut, as she broke into sobs, and then began to cry fully as she dropped down to the ground, her hands in her hair, clutching bunches of the golden red strands tightly.

Ash snapped out of his shock, and walked over to the girl, sitting down beside her, he rubbed her back in a comforting manner, before the girl threw herself in his arms, crying harder, Ash wrapped his arms around the girl, letting her cry her heart out to him as he sat there in silence, looking up to the sky and silently dealing with his own heart break at that moment.

**TBC**

_Sandra: That's long right…at least double the length of the normal chapters…but yeah…hoped you all liked it… It gets far more interesting! _

_Sorry my updates are kind of slow, but I got so many deadlines to do, so this has been on hold for a tiny while..._

_But keep reviewing me and keeping my spirits up ^_^_

_x_


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